The political mailers branded Duval County School Board member Martha Barrett a failure whose re-election would be "bad for our schools, our children and our community."

Then the ads really got rough.

The mailer praised challenger Cheryl Grymes for being endorsed by JaxBiz, the political arm of the chamber of commerce. The ad failed to say JaxBiz co-endorsed Barrett in that District 1 race.

The ad attacked Barrett's support for Democratic candidates, saying she has a "record of supporting liberals including Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and Bill Nelson."

Barrett lost the Aug. 14 election. But weeks later, the hardball politics of those mailers have rocked the Jacksonville Civic Council, an organization of 52 influential business and civic leaders.

Election records show the Civic Council contributed $20,000 to a group called the Committee for Community Leadership, which mailed out the ads praising Grymes and slamming Barrett.

Civic Council member Gary Chartrand, executive chairman of Acosta Sales & Marketing, fired off an email to Civic Council Chairman Peter Rummell, saying the mailers crossed the line. It appeared, Chartrand wrote, that Rummell was using the Civic Council to promote Grymes, his favored candidate.

Chartrand also questioned whether the Civic Council was giving campaign support to Suzanne Jenkins in her race with Ashley Smith Juarez, who is executive director of the Chartrand Foundation.

"I am confused, disappointed, insulted, and very, very angry," Chartrand wrote in the email obtained by the Times-Union. "The JCC's integrity is certainly in question."

In an email response, Rummell conceded it was wrong for the Civic Council to help Grymes in light of the fact she and Barrett were co-endorsed by JaxBiz. The Civic Council had decided "early on" to let JaxBiz's endorsements guide the council's decision on whom it would support, Rummell wrote.

"The one accusation that Gary makes that I am guilty of is not abiding by that rule in how we handled their co-endorsement in the Grymes-Barrett race," Rummell wrote. "Since JaxBiz did not choose between them but rather endorsed both candidates, as a tactical matter, we decided to help Grymes as the change candidate. Barrett never asked for advice or funding, but we didn't offer it either, so that was a mistake. My fault."

Rummell's email does not elaborate about whom he was referring to besides himself when he said "we decided to help Grymes."

He denied any Civic Council funding went to help Jenkins' campaign.

QUESTIONS REMAIN

The Civic Council's executive committee launched an internal review and announced to its members Friday that no member dues were used for political campaign activities. But the executive committee's memo did not shed light on questions such as which members contributed the money used for the mailers, who authorized the mailers, or whether anyone from the Civic Council reviewed the mailers before they were sent.

The executive committee said the organization would not be involved in political campaign activity for the current School Board races, two of which are to be decided in November. Also, the executive committee will invite the entire Civic Council membership to discuss what policies and procedures the group should have for political activity in the future.

The review determined the organization must "institute stronger financial controls as to authorization for expenditures in all matters," and the accounting firm LBA Group will help prepare those policies, the memo said.

"Essentially, we're a small nonprofit organization that's just two years out of the box and we're learning by doing it," said Don Shea, executive director of the council. "I think this can be a very positive experience and I'm looking forward to the input of the whole membership."

Chartrand, who asked for the internal review, said he welcomes the executive committee's recommendations. But he said he still expects a "clear answer" about who was calling the shots in the expenditure of money in the School Board races.

"I just want the truth, and I don't want the JCC involved in engineering elections," he said. "The membership is too diverse and too broad, and besides, I don't think the membership wants their name associated with any of the negative political mailers that are being used, which include lies."

He said he thinks the support for Grymes was more than a "mistake" because Rummell had been vocal in his opposition to Barrett's re-election.

"Don't call it a mistake if it was intentional," he said.

Chartrand said the Civic Council raised money from members to pay for services such as polling and political consultation while seeking "high-quality candidates" for the School Board race. He said he contributed $10,000 for that effort and the money wasn't intended to buy ads for any particular candidate's campaign activities.

COMMITTEE FORMATION

The Committee for Community Leadership was formed July 23, according to the Florida Division of Elections. The application was filed by David Wilcox, a Bradenton lawyer. Wilcox also was the registered agent for the Committee for Open Democracy, whose board members included Bruce Barcelo, a Jacksonville political consultant.

Wilcox said he is friends with Barcelo but that Barcelo has not been involved in the Committee for Community Leadership. Wilcox declined to identify who sought the creation of the committee.

Rummell contributed $20,000 to the committee on July 30 and the Civic Council contributed $20,000 on Aug. 1, according to state election records.

Rummell's email says his personal $20,000 contribution helped three School Board candidates: Connie Hall, who won District 5; Coree Cuff, who failed to make the District 7 runoff; and Jenkins, who is in a runoff with Smith Juarez for the District 3 seat.

Rummell's email does not explain how the Committee for Community Leadership kept his personal contribution separate from the Jacksonville Civic Council's contribution in providing campaign assistance to different candidates.

TWO MAILERS SENT

The Committee for Community Leadership sent two mailers in the race between Barrett and Grymes. One gave Barrett an "F" grade for her 12 years on the board. Another mailer praised Grymes as someone who could take the district in the "right direction."

That mailer also compared Grymes with Barrett by saying Grymes has supported "conservative candidates" while Barrett backed liberals such as Obama, Nelson, and Carter.

Barrett, a registered Democrat, said it stunned her that party preference became an issue in the campaign. She said she thinks that mailer was targeted to registered Republican households.

"I've never known any School Board race to become partisan, and this has become a partisan issue," she said. "We've never had that before. We run nonpartisan. I don't know a Republican child or a Democratic child. I only know children."

She said the Civic Council must determine what happened and disclose the findings publicly.

"I view them as a great group of leaders who are doing a great deal of good, and I think they need to be above the fray of politics," she said. "I think people want to know. The image of the Civic Council is very important because the Civic Council is very important to the city."

Shea said the Civic Council's impact won't be diminished by its involvement in the School Board race.

"I don't think so and I hope not," he said. "We're a CEO group concerned with issues of governing. In the School Board case, we're going to be available and active in offering our expertise to the School Board once it's elected in developing guidelines and policies for the reform of the school system."

David Bauerlein: (904) 359-4581

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